Chapter 391: Obstruction
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Six days later.
After visiting several other small towns, Grimm had arrived at the final destination on the list, the municipality of Jardan.
At the end of the banquet prepared by the nobility, Grimm sat on the hall’s platform with thirteen sorcerer-apprentice recruits standing behind him. They had unconsciously formed a small, yet relatively cooperative team, led by the four prodigy brothers.
On that night, many different childrens’ hands touched the surface of the crystal ball. There were squeaky-clean hands, rough and calloused hands, some with tender, porcelain-like skin and even some that wore a decorative ring.
Time passed by in the blink of an eye.
There were still no signs of anyone from this small town with an inborn sorcerer’s ability.
Grimm glanced at the gradually shorter line of children whose expressions grew increasingly worried. Some of them even had looks of defeated painted across their face.
It seems apparent that among the rest of these children there were none with a mental strength above ten points. Perhaps it was time to call it a day since he had already surpassed the minimum requirement of ten recruits.
At the doorstep, Enigma #1 collected a bag of silver coins before handing it to Myna.
Enigma #1 looked like a tail-less, horrendously mutated wild boar, which intimidated the newly-arrived little boy. He had a persistently uncomfortable look of unease on his face as he handed over the bag of coins to Grimm’s chimera.
“Caw caw, head over there.”
Myna said to the boy after counting all the coins Enigma #1 had handed over.
The boy swallowed out of nervousness as he looked at the thirteen sorcerer-apprentice recruits that stood high up on the platform before the mysterious sorcerer. Maybe they were ignoring him? Or were they stabbing him with their arrogant gazes? Either way, all he knew was that he was extremely stressed out.
After all, he had to pay a gold coin for this. It was everything he ever owned, and his hopes were all placed onto this single gold coin.
No, it’s do or die now. He had to succeed. He had to become a great sorcerer in order to actualize his dreams.
One step at a time, the boy approached the platform. He peered at the penetrating gaze emanating under the white mask of the mysterious sorcerer. It was so nerve-wrecking that the boy’s mind went completely blank.
“Place your hand on the surface of the crystal ball.”
The sorcerer had spoken. The boy rubbed his hands clean with his dirty sleeves before reaching out and pressing it gently on the crystal-clear ball. His hands were full of scars and showed minor signs of frostbite.
Grimm’s eyes were locked onto the crystal ball, largely ignoring the boy’s hands.
Countless times had Grimm seen hands like these over the past few days. His own hands too, were once like the little boy’s.
“Mental strength eight points, disqualified. Next.”
Grimm’s voice was calm and with it, was a sorcerer’s powerful commanding tone. The boy’s face turned pale as he pulled back his hands. At the moment, tears uncontrollably flowed from his eyes as a surge of emotions overwhelmed him.
Grimm had also witnessed such a scene countless times.
“Do not obstruct the children behind you!”
Grimm’s tone grew stone-cold, scaring the wits out of the boy. He then instinctively shuffled out of the hall, prompting the child behind him to hand over a gold coin. The child approached Grimm excitedly, but it was obvious from the look on his face that he too, was extremely nervous.
‘Once he steps out of the door, there would be no second chance for him…’
Nobody cared about him, as he was just like any other child that left in disappointment. He was just another commoner with no innate sorcerer abilities. He could feel the cold gaze of the crowd, laughing at his stupidity for throwing away a precious gold coin.
“No! I can’t just sit here and die! I must fight for myself! I must become a great sorcerer to…to bring Mother back to life!”
The boy pulled back his foot that was about to step out of the hall. He stopped right there for a moment before turning and running towards Myna.
“Caw?”
Myna was dumbfounded as he looked at the boy curiously, “What are you doing?”
Grimm, who was in the middle of handling a child looked up to see the boy holding Myna tightly in his embrace.
The same look of shock and terror appeared on the faces of all the nobles and guard knights in the hall. One of the knights pulled out a long sword and pointed it at the helpless boy before yelling out, “You mongrel! You don’t want to live anymore, huh? Kneel down!”
Thud!
The boy knelt down on the ground and sobbed, “Great Sorcerer, I plead you to take me under your wing as a disciple, please! I will do anything you ask!”
Grimm raised his hands and gestured for the raging knight, as well as the other nobles to back down. He did not react to the boy’s request and looked at Myna instead.
“What’s the matter?”
Grimm’s question, was in respect to Myna’s situation, as to why he got caught by the little boy.
“Ugh… Young Master, I have no idea. I was just focused on counting coins. It never crossed my mind that he was gonna do this to me. Hu,hu,hu Young Master, save me please. It seems I have become a hostage.”
Grimm glared at Myna. Is there any meaning behind this kind of game?
This hostage situation wasn’t going to cut it for him.
It was just a little boy. Grimm has ten thousand ways he could get Myna out. In fact, Myna could probably even get out by himself. And yet it seems Myna has no intentions to escape on his own.
The worst thing that could happen if Myna were to leave this boy would be what the knights would do to him afterwards…
“Become my disciple? You will do anything I ask? Hmph!”
Grimm laughed coldly. “What you are doing now is extremely foolish. I have ten thousand ways to kill and maim you. The only thing I want to hear from your mouth now, is why you want to become a sorcerer? Should your answer not satisfy me, don’t even think about leaving this place, a sorcerer’s dignity is worth more than its weight in gold!”
Seeing that Grimm had the situation under control, Myna disappeared into thin air before reappearing on Grimm’s shoulder.
The boy looked at the fierce gazes the nobles and knights fixated upon him, as well as the looks of disdain on the line of children’s faces. He looked at Grimm’s all-seeing eyes, feeling it pierce deep into his mind, as well as the arrogant looks on the thirteen sorcerer’s apprentice recruits as they looked down onto him from the platform.
Kneeling on the ground, the boy was choking on his own breath out of pure fear.
“Because…because I would like to bring Mother back to life…”
‘Bring Mother back to life?’
Grimm observed the bawling boy in silence. Become a sorcerer, to revive his dead mother…
‘Who was my mother?’
The homeless children back in Bi Seer City were either abandoned there, or had parents who were both dead. But at least they knew who their parents were. Why was it that he couldn’t find even a trace of information about his own parents? It was as if he had appeared out of thin air into this world without a reason.
At this point, the memories of his homeless days spent facing the harsh winter were all blurry. It all felt like a very long dream he had not woken up from.
Boohoo…
A cruel, heartless knight grabbed the boy up by his collar and slid him over his shoulder like how farmers would carry a chicken to the slaughterhouse. The knight’s face was red-hot with anger and frustration.
Shaming the Lord Viscount in front of a sorcerer, how dare this damn untouchable!
The line of children standing at the door, all stepped aside out of fear. Even the hands of the little girl who Grimm was examining were trembling uncontrollably.
“Put him down.”
Grimm had finally spoken out.
‘Hm?’
The knight turned around, his eyes underneath the steel helmet looked at Grimm, searching for an answer to the sudden change in attitude. Regardless, the knight sent his fist flying into the struggling boy’s stomach before his struggle stopped.
“I said, put him down!”
Grimm’s command echoed through the silent hall.
The knight’s face paled as he hurriedly put the boy down onto the floor gently. He looked into the hall silently and left after the Lord Viscount gestured for him to do so.
A sorcerer’s rage, is incredibly scary.
The boy struggled hard to get on his feet. After barely standing up, he looked straight at Grimm, eyes full of tears and anticipation.
“Hehe, you want to revive your dead mother? Interesting…go stand behind me then.”
The boy looked at Grimm in disbelief. He approached the platform slowly, one step at a time. The Lord Viscount suddenly burst out, “Master, you doing this…wouldn’t it be against the Sorcerer’s laws?”
Grimm replied without hesitation, “Sorcerer’s laws? I am THE sorcerer!”
That definitely scared the Lord Viscount into submission as he dared not open his mouth afterwards.
The eldest of the four brothers looked at the little boy and said sternly, “That was a close shave little guy. I’m amazed that even you could become a sorcerer-apprentice. Well, you have to thank Sorcerer Grimm and his good mood for that. If it was up to my father instead, you’d be long dead my friend.”
The youngest continued in a mocking tone, “Threatening a sorcerer? How did you even come up with that idea? This isn’t intelligent at all, this is pure stupidity. Haha, I hope you can survive through Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy.”
The boy was scared silent. There, he stood behind Grimm idly for the rest of the night.
***
The second day.
The mission has come to an end. In the middle of their hasty return journey, Grimm stopped the black flying carpet in mid-air. His eyes calmly looked at the Dark Sorcerer riding on an enslaved giant flying bird.
Behind the sorcerer stood eight sorcerers apprentices, all clad in black robes. A pair of burning eyes peered back at Grimm.
“Fourteen sorcerers apprentices, ku ku, what a coincidence. Sorcerer from the Black Isotta Academy, I am short on two sorcerers apprentices here, it seems…”
Grimm stared at this sorcerer, as he searched his memory. For some reason, the signal from this sorcerer feels so familiar.
Then, the fragment of memory was finally found. Grimm asked, “Are you from the Ivory Castle Sorcerer Academy…Yates?”
‘Hm?’
The Dark Sorcerer on the flying bird scanned Grimm’s body before finally fixating onto his mask. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he recalled his past memories. “And you are…”
Before Yates could even finish his sentence, a Bright Sorcerer wearing a top hat, shot up from the ground below. The Bright Sorcerer used the powerful Force of Nature to conjure a massive Elemental Cloud. The pressuring weight of a higher-level sorcerer swept across the area, stunning both Grimm and Yates.
“Hehehehe, hand over to me all your sorcerers apprentices!”
The Bright Sorcerer revealed a wicked smile, a projection of his hatred towards the Dark Sorcerers.
Yates screamed in surprise, “Level-2 Sorcerer?”
This Bright Sorcerer was relatively short. He wore a black eye-patch over his right eye and his face was slightly paler than what was considered healthy. Suddenly, Grimm finally worked his way through hundreds of years worth of memories.
“Sorcerer Dira?”